The present invention relates to connector plates which are metallic timber connecting plates generally made of zinc-coated thin steel plate and which are manufactured by punching prongs from the plate turned to an angle of approximately 90 degrees and which plates, as compressed against wood, provide a force-transmitting joint. This type of timber connecting plates were mainly developed in the 1950's and those were followed by a plurality of different connector plate designs. They differ from each other mainly in terms of the type of prong and the shape, size and pattern of a slot left in the plate by a prong. The primary utility criterion of various connector plates has been strength which has meant adhering strength or maximum lateral resistance strength transmitted by a plate surface to a wood surface and plate failure strength, i.e. the capability of a connector plate of not tearing along a seam when exposed to a tensile or shear stress. The plate failure strength may also relate to a plate buckling strength, i.e. the ability of a plate to transmit a compression force across a seam. The invention relates also to a connector plate joint which is a timber joint produced by means of a connector plate and to a connector plate structure which is (at least partially) a (timber) structure assembled by using connector plates.
The present-day approach is typically partial optimization evidenced e.g. by the fact that, when studying, analyzing or dimensioning a joint, the mere joint has been examined separately from the assembly as a whole, whereby the selected solutions have not often led to favorable overall results.